The Ultimate Guide to Crushing Your Goals: 5 Tips for Setting SMART Goals

Goal setting has always been an interesting topic for me as it allows me to see where I can develop myself and at what point I am in my life plans. It also gives me an avenue for me to be accountable to myself. However interesting it seems, sometimes, I get bored and tired of it! I just want to live without setting certain "boundaries" for myself. I just want to achieve projects at my own pace and most times, I feel it's cool when I think or act that way.

But, the down part to it every time was always the fact that I tend not to meet deadlines and then, there goes the rush! Finishing all assignments with a speed comparable to the speed of light and getting burnt out at the end of it all.

I grew tired of this cycle and I decided to make an extensive study on goal setting and what it entails to a person. This helped me in putting this piece together and enduring that this article encompasses your needs whether as a student, parent, professional in your field or a retiree.

Goal setting can be defined as putting one's life aims or ambitions towards a particular time and working hard to ensure that it is met and achieved. Goals are the result at which one's effort is aimed.

While it is important to set life goals, it is also necessary not to set them haphazardly and without any guidelines. This means that your methods of setting goals matter a lot.

How do I set goals?

You must ensure that your goals are set in a SMART manner and not just randomly.

S==>Specific

M==>Measurable

A==>Attainable

R==>Relevant

T==>Timely

Some guidelines which could help one set these SMART goals properly are but are not limited to;

1. Set moderately difficult but realistic goals: That is, not all goals are humanly achievable.

Every human being should not exceed the limit of their capacity and should learn to take baby steps per time to grow. Growth is the most beautiful thing on earth because everyone takes a part in it. Therefore, it's not an anomaly when you start with easy-to-achieve goals.

2. Set short term and long term goals: Short term goals help you take care of situations as they arise while long term goals help to place your life on a correct track. An example of this is setting a goal to become a medical doctor. The short term goal is creating a timetable to read with and attending tutorials in medical school while the long term goal is working hard and passing every exam well to get your degree as a doctor.

3. Set positive as well as negative goals: 

As much as we do not wish to acknowledge this, goal setting does not only involve a bed of roses, an individual should also learn to set goals for future and unseen calamities such as the death of a sponsor or parent, flood or an accident. This ensures that in the face of unexpected negative circumstances, one is not buried alongside his dreams and there is always a plan caught in the thicket for you.

4. Identify target dates for achieving one's goals: This helps to deal with the curse of procrastination and laziness because one knows that they have a deadline to meet. This particular guideline also helps to build the character of accountability in an individual.

5. Identify goal-achievement strategies: This entails sitting and penning down certain methods that will ensure that your goals are well fulfilled. It encapsulates a detailed step-by-step approach to what to do to come out victorious. An example of this is forming the habit of attending tutorials as a medical student to graduate as a doctor.

Why Should I Set Goals?

You're not alone on this table because I also asked this question for a very long time. I mean, why should I plan my life as if I'm not expecting surprises anytime soon? 

But soon, I learned three reasons which became my propelling forces.

1. Goal setting builds confidence in a person. This is because such a person has the assurance that he or she will succeed in all they do. After all, it has been well planned out.

2. It ensures the smoothness of the process. This implies that no unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances are met because one's life and activities, including calamities, are well-planned out in order.

3. Developments and improvement. An individual who sets goals for herself experiences personal growth, development and improvement which can be a major source of motivation for juniors.

By this method, I have made realistic goals and ticked them all off my notepad!

Hoping to hear your growth testimony soon!